Former Moab resident
Carolyn Dailey will be showing recent “plein air” oil
paintings of the Moab area starting Saturday, November 10th
at the Overlook Gallery. The show entitled “Moab Magic” opens
as part of the November Art Walk with a reception from 6:00
- 9:00pm. The artist will be present at the opening and will
be available to sign posters of the show. The show will run
for one month. All paintings are original oils by the artist
and will be for sale.

Overlook

Carolyn Dailey’s
name is well known among the Moab art community. She lived
in Moab for 5 years from 1987 until 1992. Moab is very special
to her because it was here in the glorious red rock canyon
country that Carolyn learned to paint “plein air” landscapes
- painting outdoors from life in the “full air.” Many
of her paintings from that time still grace the homes of
her friends in Moab today. Last year her “Moab Magic” show
at the M.A.R.C. was almost a complete sell out.

She was also honored in August 2006 by the Grand County Public
Library when they purchased two of her landscapes for their
new building. The painting entitled “Colorado River” was
painted along the river road near what used to be the White
Ranch and “Dark Angel” was painted at Arches
National Park looking towards the fins. Both paintings were
from her personal collection of favorite paintings from the
time that she lived here and now are on display in the library.

Loving art and winning art awards since her childhood growing
up in Maryland and Pennsylvania, Carolyn came out west to
college where she studied art while earning her Bachelor’s
and Master’s Degrees at the University of New Mexico
and the University of Colorado. Carolyn continued to paint
while working in a career of educational research and has
been a professional painter since 1983. She began working
as a full time artist in 1987 when she left her position
in the administration at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado
to move to Moab to paint full-time.

The Neck

Carolyn’s current
painting technique was influenced by workshop study in 1989
and 1990 with nationally known painters Mark Daily, Michael
Lynch, and Ned Jacobs at the Fechin Institute in Taos, NM.
But her main mentor was New Mexican artist Frank La Lumia,
recent author of “Plein Air Painting: Watercolors and
Oils,” whom she met painting at Arches National Park
in the winter of 1988. She remembers, “He stopped to
talk to me while I was painting the Gossips. He and I and
two hardy bicyclists were the only people in the whole park
on that cold snowy day.” La Lumia helped her with
outdoor painting in very practical ways by showing her the
best painting materials and equipment to use as well as different
painting techniques, but most of all he inspired intense
dedication. He impressed her by saying that “very few
artists are just naturally gifted - behind every successful
artist there are miles of canvas.” So Carolyn became
an accomplished “plein air” artist by doing
at least one painting a day during her years living in the
Moab area.

Since a “plein air” painting must be completed
before the light and shadows completely change, Carolyn’s
paintings are usually small in size ranging from 6” x
12” to 12” x 16”. Carolyn occasionally
does larger studio pieces from photos, but these usually
are of complex ceremonial and market scenes that are difficult
to paint from life. Preferring to paint on Belgian Linen
for its elegant surface, she also uses the finest quality
of oil paints and displays her work in gold frames with linen
liners. The paintings in her “Moab Magic II” show
are outdoor “plein air” pieces completed in May
and October of this year while the artist was visiting in
the area.

Kane Creek

After leaving Moab Carolyn
lived for 15 years in Panajachel on the mystical Lake Atitlan
in Guatemala where she painted landscapes as well as the
colorful Mayan people. Her work is represented by three of
the finest galleries in Guatemala - the GALERIA DE ARTE in
the old colonial city of Antigua, LA GALERIA in Panajachel
and the CARLOS ARRIOLA GALLERY in the famous Hotel Camino
Real in Guatemala City. Carolyn has also participated in
numerous one-woman shows and group shows in both in Guatemala
and the United States. Her biggest show held at the IXCHEL
MUSEUM in Guatemala City in 1999 was entitled “Dos
Mundos, Una Vida” and featured 25 pairs of paintings
showing the parallels between the landscape and native people
of Guatemala and the Himalayan countries of Nepal and Tibet
where she traveled in 1998. In 1993 and 2002 she was given
shows at the Durango Arts Center in Durango, Colorado. But
perhaps the most famous art show that she ever participated
in was the 1985 Annual Invitational Show of the prestigious
Salamugundi Club in New York City who accepted a painting
she did of Antelope Canyon near Page, Arizona. A complete
listing of her exhibitions as well as a variety of her paintings
can be found on her website: www.livesite.net/carolyndailey.

“Moab Magic II” will present approximately 20
oil paintings done in the Moab area including images from
the Colorado River, Castle Valley, Arches National Park and
Island in the Sky. Come see her show and experience some
of the magic of Moab through the eyes of artist Carolyn Dailey!